EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION FREQUENCY AND LEAF DETACHMENT ON CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWN IN TWO TYPES OF PLASTIC HOUSE

Effects of irrigation frequency and leaf detachment on chrysanthemum ...
Indonesian Journal of Agricultural Science 8(1), 2007: 39-42
39
EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION FREQUENCY AND LEAF
DETACHMENT ON CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWN IN
TWO TYPES OF PLASTIC HOUSE
K. Budiartoa, Y. Sulyoa, E. Dwi S.N.a, and R.H.M. Maaswinkelb
aIndonesian Ornamental Plants Research Institute, Jalan Raya Pacet-Ciherang, PO Box 8 Sindanglaya, Cianjur 43253, Indonesia
bApplied Plant Research, WUR–Kruisbroekweg 5, PO Box 8, 2670 AA Naaldwijk, The Netherlands
ABSTRACT
productivity and quality need to be improved. The
use of bamboo for plastic house construction is
Chrysanthemum is one of important ornamentals in Indonesia
considered less durable compared to other materials
and it ranks in the first quantity of cut flower marketed every
such as wood or other permanent materials like
year. In most cases, the low productivity is still a constraint for
aluminum. This condition leads the growers to recon-
the traditional growers to make production process profitable.
Several problems revealed in chrysanthemum production were
struct and renovate the plastic house almost every 5
investigated. The study dealt with the effect of two types of
years. The expenses for these activities become
plastic house constructions, irrigation frequency, and leaf de-
additional cost and finally make the production
tachment on the growth and development of chrysanthemum.
process less profitable (Boudoin and Von Zabeltitz
The experiment was conducted at Segunung, Indonesian Orna-
2002). Instead of the bamboo construction, the life
mental Plants Research Institute during the dry season of 2005.
span of wood house is 10 years. In the wood house,
A nested design with six replications was used. The results
showed that plants grown in wood-constructed plastic house had
there is 20% more radiation compared to that in the
better growth performance and flower quality than those under
bamboo house (Gunadi et al. 2006).
bamboo plastic house. Longer stem and higher plant fresh
Another problem is the use of drip irrigation system.
weight with more flowers and longer life span were also observed
Among some growers, the equipments were installed
on chrysanthemum irrigated four times per week than those
with the pump to distribute water for plants. This
irrigated twice per week. Leaf removal often practiced by the
growers is no longer recommended, since the number of leaves
system is cheaper than manual watering. However,
on the plant influenced all parameters observed. The more
some problems often occurred. The excessive water
leaves were detached, the more negative impacts on plant
due to the frequent applications contributed to the
growth were found.
high humidity in the plant environment under the
[Keywords: Dendranthema grandiflora, plastic house, irrigation
plastic house. The less light interception to plants
frequency, leaf detachment]
was also considered to have contribution to this con-
dition. The dense bamboo constructions especially in
the roof were often found, since the bamboos were
INTRODUCTION
not easy to be constructed. Less light interception
and high humidity then become a limiting factor for
Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora [Ramat]
the plant growth and lead to the excessive spreading
Kitam) is one of the major cut flowers in the world.
of diseases especially Japanese white rust.
The demand for the flower reached 35% of the overall
Aside from the pesticide application, in dealing with
market request, second only to roses. In Indonesia,
white rust, growers tend to remove the older infected
chrysanthemum ranks in the first quantity of the cut
leaves in the plants regularly. It is not clear whether
flower marketed every year.
the activity is only conducted for removing the
Most of chrysanthemum growers are in Java with
infected leaves or these have significant impacts on
three harvest periods every year. In traditional
the subsequent appearance of white rust or even for
growers, the plants are usually grown in plastic house
the plant growth and quality of the flower produced.
constructed from bamboo, since bamboo plants are
This study was conducted to find out the effects of
abundant and naturally grown. However, some
two types of plastic house construction, i.e. bamboo
constraints revealed during the production process
and wood houses, irrigation frequency, and leaf
are still unsolved up to this moment and the flower
detachment on growth quality of chrysanthemum.

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40
K. Budiarto et al.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Leaf Detachment
The study was conducted at Segunung experimental
The leaf detachment was practiced to find out the
station of the Indonesian Ornamental Plants Research
effect of this activity on the growth quality of plants
Institute, located at 1100 m asl, from June to October
in both plastic house types. The number of leaves
2005. Rooted cuttings of chrysanthemum cv. Town
detached were: (1) 6 leaves at 4 weeks after planting
Talk were planted and arranged in beds with the
(wap); (2) 10 leaves, 6 leaves at 4 wap and 4 leaves at
density of 64 plants m-2. Long day condition was
6 wap; (3) 14 leaves, 6 leaves at 4 wap, 4 leaves at 6 wap,
provided with 100 watt incandescent lamps cyclic
and 4 leaves at 8 wap, and (4) no leaf was detached.
lighting (20 minutes off followed by 10 minutes on)
from 22.00 pm to 03.00 am for 4 weeks. The lamp
points were arranged 2 m x 2 m and 1.5 m above the
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
planting beds.
Manure was applied at the rate of 30 t ha-1 for both
The plants were harvested at 95 days after planting
houses. Fertilizer rates were based on the soil analy-
and all parameters were observed hereafter. Analysis
ses, i.e. Ca(NO ) 4.4 kg + SP-36 1.25 kg and K SO 11
of variances revealed that the differences among the
3 2
2
4
kg per 100 m2 for bamboo house, and Ca(NO ) 2.2 kg
replications were not significant and no interaction
3 2
+ SP-36 1.25 kg and K SO 11 kg per 100 m2 for wood
was found among the factors in all parameters ob-
2
4
house. Additional fertilizers comprised of KNO 0.7 g,
served.
3
MgSO 0.5 g and Ca(NO ) 0.4 g L-1 were supplemented
4
3 2
through drip irrigation. Standard cultural practices
Irrigation Frequency
were applied to maintain the plants throughout the
experiment.
The application of different irrigation frequencies
The experiment was arranged in nested design with
gave significant impacts on chrysanthemum growth in
six replications. The factors were type of plastic house
both plastic house types. The plants irrigated four
construction, irrigation frequency, and leaf detachment
times per week had better performance compared to
with the following description.
those with twice per week irrigation in terms of plant
height, total plant fresh weight, and 80 cm long-stem
Types of Plastic House Construction
fresh weight (Table 1).
Water supplied four times per week also gave
Plant growth quality was observed under two plastic
significant influences on the generative stage. The
house types. Traditional construction made of bamboo
increase in flower number per stem and longer vase
(Indonesian) and wood (adopted from Malaysian
life span in the room temperature were observed on
type) were used. The bamboo pipes were served for
the plants grown in both plastic houses irrigated four
the pillars and roof, while in Malaysian type, the
times per week (Table 2).
wood pillars were equipped with galvanized pipe for
Water availability was considered as an important
the roof. Both constructions used UV plastic for the
factor in determining plant growth and quality of the
roof cover and 1 mm green screen mass for the whole
flowers produced. The four times per week irrigation
side wall of plastic houses.
seemed to have supplied the roots with more con-
stant moisture content. This water content was impor-
Irrigation Frequency
Table 1. Plant height and stem weight per plant of chrysan-
During the first seven days, the water was given for
themum treated by different irrigation frequencies.
about 2.5 L m-2 everyday to the plants using sprinkler

Irrigation
Plant
80 cm-long stem fresh
Plant fresh
in both plastic houses to maintain the newly planted
frequency
height
weight per plant
weight
cuttings. Three lines of drip tubes were installed in
per week
(cm)
(g)
(g)
each bed to facilitate the irrigation by drip system.
Twice
101.26a
42.14a
59.07a
The irrigation frequencies were arranged twice (2.5 L
Four times
115.25b
58.41b
70.97b
m-2 per application) and four times (1.25 L m-2 per

Values followed by different letters in the same column differ
application) per week in both plastic house types.
significantly at LSD 5%.

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Effects of irrigation frequency and leaf detachment on chrysanthemum ...
41
Table 2. Number of chrysanthemum flower and flower life
the more leaves detached from the plants. The slower
span in room temperature treated by different irrigation
subsequent growth after leaf detachment indicated
frequencies.
the slower cell division and differentiation. The cell
Irrigation frequency
Number of
Flower life span
growth retardation inferred that the leaf detachment
per week
flowers per stem
(days)
contributed to the less production of assimilate. This
Twice
11.05a
11.14a
logical pathway was driven, since the more leaves
Four times
13.68b
13.67b
detached might automatically decrease the light har-
Values followed by different letters in the same column differ
vesting area and consequently the photosynthetic
significantly at LSD 5%.
active area. These might directly influence the photo-
synthetic activity, e.g. decreasing the photosynthetic
rate since the photosynthesis takes place mainly in
tant not only for plant uptake in metabolic activities,
the leaves (Rademaker and De Jong 1987).
but it also provided more favorable condi-tions in the
The less assimilate produced due to the low photo-
root environment (Karlsen and Bertram 1995) as well
synthesis activities contributed to the imbalance of
as less destructive temperature fluctua-tion in the soil
carbohydrate partitioning in plant body, since the
(Klapwijk 1987), since June to October, the experi-
sink were competed with the limited assimilate. The
mental sites were in dry season.
competition then affected the generative stage, e.g
Worse growth performance of the plants treated
flower initiation and development. These might explain
with twice per week irrigation was predictably caused
for the less number of flowers produced in plant with
by inconstant water availability in the root system.
more leaves detached, since plant needs abundant
The longer period between water applications may
carbohydrates as source of energy for flowering (De
have caused water deficit in the soil (Mortensen
Ruiter 1997).
2000). These conditions influenced the stability of
The lack of energy sources might not only decrease
root activities and metabolic process due to the use
the number of flowers but also the quality of flowers
of additional energy for respiration (Trusty and Miller
produced. The carbohydrate content in the plant
1991).
body might determine the life span of the flower, since
the carbohydrates retained in plant body were
consumed for respiration after the plant was cut
Effects of Leaf Detachment
(Chockshull 1982). These might describe the reason
for the shorter life span found in plants with harass
Leaf removal had significant influences on the growth
leaf detachment.
performance and quality of the flowers produced in
both plastic house types. The more leaves removed,
the less growth observed in plants. The number of
Plant Performance
flowers per stem and flower life span also decreased
continuously in line with the increase in leaves
In general, the plants grown under the different plastic
detached (Table 3).
houses showed different characteristics in growth
The decrease in plant height in line with the increase
quality and flowers produced. The plants grown
in leaves removed was an evident of the influence of
under the wood-constructed plastic house grew more
leaves retained on the plants to the subsequent
vigorously than those plants under bamboo-con-
growth, since the decrease in plant fresh weight
structed. This was shown by the higher values of
observed among the treatments can be drifted from
plant height and fresh weight as presented in Table 4.
Tabel 3. Growth quality, number of flowers, and flower life span of chrysanthemum in room temperature
treated with different number of leaves detached.
Number of
Plant height
Plant fresh weight
Number of
Flower life span
leaves detached
(cm)
(g)
flowers per stem
(days)
0
116.08a
68.26a
13.57a
14.51a
6
109.34ab
66.88ab
12.43ab
13.50a
1 0
108.31b
63.40ab
10.29ab
12.35ab
1 4
101.75b
61.28b
9.16b
11.31b
Values followed by different letters in the same column differ significantly at LSD 5%.

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42
K. Budiarto et al.
Table 4. Growth quality, number of flowers, and flower life
Number of leaves detached from the plants affected
span in room temperature of chrysanthemum grown under two
subsequent plant growth and flower quality. The
types of plastic house.
more leaves on the plants contributed to the higher
Types of
Plant
Fresh weight
Number of
Flower
number of flowers produced and longer life span of
plastic
height
per plant
flowers
life span
the flowers after cut at room temperature.
house
(cm)
(g)
per stem
(days)
Plants grown under bamboo and wood-constructed
Bamboo
103.15a
58.72a
35.05a
13.78a
plastic houses showed different performances in the
Wood
113.36b
71.08b
48.26b
14.92a
quality of growth and flowers produced. The less
Values followed by different letters in the same column differ
optimal environment under the bamboo plastic house
significantly at LSD 5%.
contributed to the low plant height, and plant fresh
weight, and decreased the number of flowers
produced per plant compared to those planted under
the wood plastic house.
The plants grown under wood plastic house also had
better flower quality, as reflected by the number of
flowers per stem and longer life span.
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